Contact: Allison Matthews
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State Dean of Students Thomas Bourgeois said the university is reaching out to students from southeast Texas to show support for those impacted by Hurricane Harvey and direct them to appropriate resources.
The university has supportive relationships with disaster response and recovery agencies at the state and federal levels, as well as nonprofit organizations.
“Having family members and friends who lost everything in Hurricane Katrina, my heart goes out to those victims of Harvey who are reliving that same nightmare,” Bourgeois said.
Cade Smith, MSU assistant dean and director for the Office of Student Leadership and Community Engagement, said MSU response will follow guidance of disaster response agencies “so that our efforts are supportive and avoid disruptions in meeting the immediate needs of the victims and first responders.”
Smith said the university is quickly planning for collections of appropriate supplies to support response and recovery efforts. Donations of box fans, extension cords and batteries are being accepted at MSU’s Maroon Volunteer Center, 306 Moseley Hall, until 10 a.m. Wednesday [Aug. 30]. These supplies then will be delivered Thursday to hurricane-affected areas by Tupelo-based nonprofit Eight Days of Hope.
“The first inclination for many people is to try to take action and do something, but it is important to respond through the leads of FEMA, state agencies and national nonprofits engaged in disaster relief and recovery,” Smith said.
The Maroon Volunteer Center is coordinating information on how to donate and volunteer for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts at https://www.mvc.msstate.edu/blog/hurricane-harvey-relief-efforts/.
Bourgeois said a disaster that reaches the magnitude of Harvey can be overwhelming, but “the university can be here to listen, to support and try to match students with resources and provide them empathy and care to see that tomorrow will be another day.
“They are important to us and loved,” Bourgeois said.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.